miscellanea.
☠ power ☠
† Personal Fade
In Thedas, the Fade is both spirit world and dreamscape, a place of pure thought and imagination ruled by strange metaphysical beings. Here, dreams are dreams, and they don't literally take you to another world. However, Zevran trailed a tiny scrap of the Fade into this dimension with him. Not being a mage, he normally wouldn't be able to do anything with it, but his power here lets him draw it into the physical realm in forms relating to his soul and intentions. The problem is, he has no idea of the details of this or how it might be extensively manipulated--he just knows that he can do some cool new things. After all, he isn't a mage. So his command of his personal Fade was initially rudimentary, limited to two simple powers stemming from his non-magical skills and his dishonorable plans. Since then, it has expanded to include a more complex and less reliable power as well.
†† Fade cloak
With a thought, he can wrap the Fade into a cloak around him, rendering him imperceptible to senses both natural and supernatural. This power operates on a psychic level as much as a physical one, by creating a localized patch of reality that bends the perceptions of anyone nearby so that instead of sensing him, they sense what they would otherwise expect to be there. Those with psychic or telepathic awareness will have that ability affected similarly: their powers will pick up what they expect to pick up if he weren't there. However, if they concentrate, they'll be able to sense that something is causing a psychic/spiritual/magical spike in activity nearby. Those with active immunity to psychic or magical effects (not simply passive resistance to some psychic interference or a very strong will) will see said patch of reality for what it is: a distorted, shimmery thing in the shape of a man. Zevran himself sees the world in an altered form while in this state: it's hazy, soft, and slightly purple, with sounds and other sensations slightly distorted. For more on this, see Fade eyes.
†† Fade dagger
When he wills it, a very sharp dagger with a leather-bound hilt coalesces in his hand out of the Fade around him. It functions as a normal bladed weapon under most circumstances, quite useful for stabbing someone or slitting their throat, as you do. It also, however, deals spirit damage, and so it can inflict wounds on immaterial entities not normally vulnerable to such things. As a side effect, it can also rip open magical or spiritual wards or barriers and bypass protection drawn from those sources. Armor, physical invulnerability, healing factors, and the like still work just fine against it, though. Note that he cannot use the dagger while using either of the other manifestations of his Fade power.
†† Fade eyes
Either by using the Fade cloak or by focusing his vision alone through the Fade, Zevran can shift his perception so that he sees a slightly different level of reality: a more dream-like and spiritual world. Simply cloaking himself or looking through the Fade will show him glaring emissions and obvious sources of magical and spiritual power. If he concentrates while doing so, however, making a point of becoming hyper-aware of his surroundings and "listening in" on what they tell him, he can sense more. The true form of illusions will become clear to him (although they'll be fuzzy and heavily overlapped by the illusion); magical, spiritual, or psychic power will whisper to him at a volume proportional to its strength and in ways related to its nature; spirits will be plainly visible and ghosts faintly so. Since the Fade is also linked to dreams, he will, in a sense, be able to see these as well when he uses this manifestation of the power, in the form of an aura around sentient beings. Most of the time, these auras will be too jumbled for him to make out anything distinct, but if someone has a particular vivid or recurring dream, it will be distinct enough from the mess for him to make out an image or silent movie trailing them and hear some sounds from it if he focuses on it. This is all, of course, dependent on permissions and prone to unreliability. In addition, this part of the power relies strongly on practice and honing his skills. He won't immediately know what to make of the new imagery and sensations he can gather from it. Understanding more about the nature of his power and how to focus his own senses will help him maximize its potential.
† Subtle Severity Set
While on his previous trip into the City, the 'Porter stripped Zevran's equipment of all its magical bonuses, this time she's allowed one through and in fact transferred its effects to him as an individual. He came through wearing two rings that together grant him a significant bonus to health regeneration. Now, in the City, he heals minor wounds instantly and deeper injuries within seconds or minutes. Immediately fatal wounds will still kill him, and he can't regrow severed limbs.
☠ skills and talents ☠
† "We all do our share of murdering around here, don't we?"
Being from the end of the first game, Zevran has a fair amount of experience under his belt. Obviously it doesn't translate perfectly out of RPG mechanics, but I've made an effort to summarize his non-superpowered abilities drawn from canon here as well.
He is rogue-class, with the assassin specialization. His skills in the less violent rogue capabilities are mostly low: he can pick pockets or locks, but not exceptionally well. Unsurprisingly, he's devoted most of his learning experience to the skills that let him find new and inventive ways of killing people. The exception is stealth, at which he excels...although that's mostly moot here, since he has a superpower to replace it.
His basic combat style consists of maneuvering quickly around opponents, dodging particularly devastating blows, backstabbing, exploiting weak points, and debilitating or disabling enemies when possible. When fully equipped for battle, he wields a blade in each hand and, having maxed out certain dual-wielding talents, is very efficient at using both. He also has simple training with a bow and arrow, but doesn't excel at it. He's working on learning how to use guns, but will always be better with blades.
Zevran typically fights with poison, which unfortunately for him is harder to use that way in a modern setting. On top of that, while he has excellent poison-making skills in relation to his own world, the components of this world are very different, so he's trying to learn those differences.
☠ equipment ☠
† "That is a sexy sword, and I must have it."
By the end of his adventures with the Warden, Zevran was pretty thoroughly kitted out for combat, since she fought with him at her side most times. Taking into account that the Warden herself (also a dual-wielding rogue) would generally have the best rogue equipment and Alistair (her favored warrior companion) the best warrior equipment, Zevran generally had the second-best available rogue equipment.
His sword, which he rarely gets the opportunity to use because it's quite large and conspicuous despite being a one-handed weapon, is Topsider's Honor, known to him as "the Trialmont family blade." It has sentimental value to him on account of the Warden going about a quest to assemble it and then letting him use it, but he's unlikely to admit this. It's a dragonbone sword bearing the following inscription on the blade: "There must always be another to take up arms against the darkness. That is the core of true family beyond kin, and the unifying link that will bring day to night and allow the fallen to rest." He probably doesn't think about the inscription much.
His dagger (which is actually rather large and looks more like a shortsword) sees more use, although he still doesn't carry it around on a regular basis, since it's too large to easily hide. It's a dragonbone Crow dagger and holds no particular sentimental value to him, save perhaps as a reminder of what he's left behind.
By the time the events of the game concluded, Zevran was outfitted in Wade's drakeskin armor set. This is no longer the case, as after the game he made up some excuse about not wanting to be seen in such obviously expensive get-up and went back to wearing armor with (although again, he won't easily admit it) certain sentimental value. Upon his arrival in the City, he was wearing Antivan leather boots (a gift from the Warden), Dalish gloves (also a gift from the Warden), and inscribed leather Dalish armor (the significance of which he will brush off, claiming simply that it's better than ordinary leather armor). In addition, he had an amulet and a belt, accessories whose effects are normally magical in nature; these bonuses have been nullified by the 'Porter, making them irrelevant (see above for the equipment bonuses that were not nullified by the 'Porter). He kept them anyway, although not on his person; the amulet is now in the possession of comesback.
Since arriving in the City, he's had the chance to steal, loot, or purchase several small, more concealable knives which he normally keeps with him, as well as modern body armor and two small handguns, which he does not. The handguns were acquired from a raid on loves_war's underground bunker, as was a canister of hostility-inducing "hate gas."
☠ permissions ☠
Since Zevran now has a power that allows him to detect things beyond most characters' senses, he'll need a permissions post. If your character has either notable magical power, illusions, or vivid/recurring dreams, I would appreciate it if you would fill out the following form!
Character Name: Here's where you name your character.
Character Journal: Should be obvious!
What magic, illusions, or dreams will show up from them in the Fade? Let me know just what it is he'll be sensing.
How will it manifest to Zevran's senses? How will he see--or hear, or smell, or taste--the magical signature of your character, if they have one? If he's seeing through an illusion, what will he see underneath it? If it's a recurring dream, what part of it will he see or hear?
Is there anything you don't want me to mention about this ICly? Just to make sure I don't spill information you'd rather be kept secret.
Character Name:
Character Journal:
What magic, illusions, or dreams will show up from them in the Fade?
How will it manifest to Zevran's senses?
Is there anything you don't want me to mention about this ICly?
You're under no obligation to let Zevran pick up anything you don't want to be discovered: this will be a new power to him for a while, and he won't be able to control it perfectly.
† Personal Fade
In Thedas, the Fade is both spirit world and dreamscape, a place of pure thought and imagination ruled by strange metaphysical beings. Here, dreams are dreams, and they don't literally take you to another world. However, Zevran trailed a tiny scrap of the Fade into this dimension with him. Not being a mage, he normally wouldn't be able to do anything with it, but his power here lets him draw it into the physical realm in forms relating to his soul and intentions. The problem is, he has no idea of the details of this or how it might be extensively manipulated--he just knows that he can do some cool new things. After all, he isn't a mage. So his command of his personal Fade was initially rudimentary, limited to two simple powers stemming from his non-magical skills and his dishonorable plans. Since then, it has expanded to include a more complex and less reliable power as well.
†† Fade cloak
With a thought, he can wrap the Fade into a cloak around him, rendering him imperceptible to senses both natural and supernatural. This power operates on a psychic level as much as a physical one, by creating a localized patch of reality that bends the perceptions of anyone nearby so that instead of sensing him, they sense what they would otherwise expect to be there. Those with psychic or telepathic awareness will have that ability affected similarly: their powers will pick up what they expect to pick up if he weren't there. However, if they concentrate, they'll be able to sense that something is causing a psychic/spiritual/magical spike in activity nearby. Those with active immunity to psychic or magical effects (not simply passive resistance to some psychic interference or a very strong will) will see said patch of reality for what it is: a distorted, shimmery thing in the shape of a man. Zevran himself sees the world in an altered form while in this state: it's hazy, soft, and slightly purple, with sounds and other sensations slightly distorted. For more on this, see Fade eyes.
†† Fade dagger
When he wills it, a very sharp dagger with a leather-bound hilt coalesces in his hand out of the Fade around him. It functions as a normal bladed weapon under most circumstances, quite useful for stabbing someone or slitting their throat, as you do. It also, however, deals spirit damage, and so it can inflict wounds on immaterial entities not normally vulnerable to such things. As a side effect, it can also rip open magical or spiritual wards or barriers and bypass protection drawn from those sources. Armor, physical invulnerability, healing factors, and the like still work just fine against it, though. Note that he cannot use the dagger while using either of the other manifestations of his Fade power.
†† Fade eyes
Either by using the Fade cloak or by focusing his vision alone through the Fade, Zevran can shift his perception so that he sees a slightly different level of reality: a more dream-like and spiritual world. Simply cloaking himself or looking through the Fade will show him glaring emissions and obvious sources of magical and spiritual power. If he concentrates while doing so, however, making a point of becoming hyper-aware of his surroundings and "listening in" on what they tell him, he can sense more. The true form of illusions will become clear to him (although they'll be fuzzy and heavily overlapped by the illusion); magical, spiritual, or psychic power will whisper to him at a volume proportional to its strength and in ways related to its nature; spirits will be plainly visible and ghosts faintly so. Since the Fade is also linked to dreams, he will, in a sense, be able to see these as well when he uses this manifestation of the power, in the form of an aura around sentient beings. Most of the time, these auras will be too jumbled for him to make out anything distinct, but if someone has a particular vivid or recurring dream, it will be distinct enough from the mess for him to make out an image or silent movie trailing them and hear some sounds from it if he focuses on it. This is all, of course, dependent on permissions and prone to unreliability. In addition, this part of the power relies strongly on practice and honing his skills. He won't immediately know what to make of the new imagery and sensations he can gather from it. Understanding more about the nature of his power and how to focus his own senses will help him maximize its potential.
† Subtle Severity Set
While on his previous trip into the City, the 'Porter stripped Zevran's equipment of all its magical bonuses, this time she's allowed one through and in fact transferred its effects to him as an individual. He came through wearing two rings that together grant him a significant bonus to health regeneration. Now, in the City, he heals minor wounds instantly and deeper injuries within seconds or minutes. Immediately fatal wounds will still kill him, and he can't regrow severed limbs.
☠ skills and talents ☠
† "We all do our share of murdering around here, don't we?"
Being from the end of the first game, Zevran has a fair amount of experience under his belt. Obviously it doesn't translate perfectly out of RPG mechanics, but I've made an effort to summarize his non-superpowered abilities drawn from canon here as well.
He is rogue-class, with the assassin specialization. His skills in the less violent rogue capabilities are mostly low: he can pick pockets or locks, but not exceptionally well. Unsurprisingly, he's devoted most of his learning experience to the skills that let him find new and inventive ways of killing people. The exception is stealth, at which he excels...although that's mostly moot here, since he has a superpower to replace it.
His basic combat style consists of maneuvering quickly around opponents, dodging particularly devastating blows, backstabbing, exploiting weak points, and debilitating or disabling enemies when possible. When fully equipped for battle, he wields a blade in each hand and, having maxed out certain dual-wielding talents, is very efficient at using both. He also has simple training with a bow and arrow, but doesn't excel at it. He's working on learning how to use guns, but will always be better with blades.
Zevran typically fights with poison, which unfortunately for him is harder to use that way in a modern setting. On top of that, while he has excellent poison-making skills in relation to his own world, the components of this world are very different, so he's trying to learn those differences.
☠ equipment ☠
† "That is a sexy sword, and I must have it."
By the end of his adventures with the Warden, Zevran was pretty thoroughly kitted out for combat, since she fought with him at her side most times. Taking into account that the Warden herself (also a dual-wielding rogue) would generally have the best rogue equipment and Alistair (her favored warrior companion) the best warrior equipment, Zevran generally had the second-best available rogue equipment.
His sword, which he rarely gets the opportunity to use because it's quite large and conspicuous despite being a one-handed weapon, is Topsider's Honor, known to him as "the Trialmont family blade." It has sentimental value to him on account of the Warden going about a quest to assemble it and then letting him use it, but he's unlikely to admit this. It's a dragonbone sword bearing the following inscription on the blade: "There must always be another to take up arms against the darkness. That is the core of true family beyond kin, and the unifying link that will bring day to night and allow the fallen to rest." He probably doesn't think about the inscription much.
His dagger (which is actually rather large and looks more like a shortsword) sees more use, although he still doesn't carry it around on a regular basis, since it's too large to easily hide. It's a dragonbone Crow dagger and holds no particular sentimental value to him, save perhaps as a reminder of what he's left behind.
By the time the events of the game concluded, Zevran was outfitted in Wade's drakeskin armor set. This is no longer the case, as after the game he made up some excuse about not wanting to be seen in such obviously expensive get-up and went back to wearing armor with (although again, he won't easily admit it) certain sentimental value. Upon his arrival in the City, he was wearing Antivan leather boots (a gift from the Warden), Dalish gloves (also a gift from the Warden), and inscribed leather Dalish armor (the significance of which he will brush off, claiming simply that it's better than ordinary leather armor). In addition, he had an amulet and a belt, accessories whose effects are normally magical in nature; these bonuses have been nullified by the 'Porter, making them irrelevant (see above for the equipment bonuses that were not nullified by the 'Porter). He kept them anyway, although not on his person; the amulet is now in the possession of comesback.
Since arriving in the City, he's had the chance to steal, loot, or purchase several small, more concealable knives which he normally keeps with him, as well as modern body armor and two small handguns, which he does not. The handguns were acquired from a raid on loves_war's underground bunker, as was a canister of hostility-inducing "hate gas."
☠ permissions ☠
Since Zevran now has a power that allows him to detect things beyond most characters' senses, he'll need a permissions post. If your character has either notable magical power, illusions, or vivid/recurring dreams, I would appreciate it if you would fill out the following form!
Character Name: Here's where you name your character.
Character Journal: Should be obvious!
What magic, illusions, or dreams will show up from them in the Fade? Let me know just what it is he'll be sensing.
How will it manifest to Zevran's senses? How will he see--or hear, or smell, or taste--the magical signature of your character, if they have one? If he's seeing through an illusion, what will he see underneath it? If it's a recurring dream, what part of it will he see or hear?
Is there anything you don't want me to mention about this ICly? Just to make sure I don't spill information you'd rather be kept secret.
Character Name:
Character Journal:
What magic, illusions, or dreams will show up from them in the Fade?
How will it manifest to Zevran's senses?
Is there anything you don't want me to mention about this ICly?
You're under no obligation to let Zevran pick up anything you don't want to be discovered: this will be a new power to him for a while, and he won't be able to control it perfectly.